While at the Henry County Museum an item came in that took me by surprise. A couple from Fulton, Mo. brought in a paintingto donate; it was not just any painting, either, but a genuine Louis Freund painting.
For those who are not familiar, Louis Freund was born in Clinton and, following his education in Columbia, Mo., traveled to Paris to study art. When he returned home, the Great Depression was in full swing and for a time he made his living painting projects for the Works Projects Administration (WPA); like so many artists who found themselves unemployed in the early 1930s, he was commissioned to paint/draw scenes near the community he lived in – which happened to be Clinton. The Henry County Museum has a collection of Louis Freund paintings depicting various local scenes: an ice cream social, a scene from the Calhoun Colt Show (1934), circus tent stake drivers at work, and a night train scene from the Katy Railroad(1933). Freund also painted murals which used to grace the old post office, and multiple portraits of local folks. The museum has a couple of his earlier works which are sketches in charcoal, but Freund was mainly known for his oil paintings; his style of painting was not all that unlike Thomas Hart Benton’s or possibly even a little touch of George Caleb Bingham. Some of Freund’s later works for magazine covers are exquisitely Rockwellian in their appearance (the Henry County Museum has a few of those, too).
There are a few works of his are out there depicting Clinton butare not in the local collection. This painting, however, is unique among his works: firstly, the painting is not in oil but is in the medium of tempera: it is thinly painted but in bold colors.Secondly, the scene appears to be from the early 1920s and is of the Artesian Park: in the foreground is the artesian lake, but the details surrounding it are telling: the boathouse, the White Sulphur Springs Hotel, the iconic stairs, and (by the stairs) the artesian well with its high spout of water. People can be seen boating, sitting, sunning, and some strolling on the road in the background. The Artesian Park was once the place to be in Clinton; folks looking for mineral spring water as a health tonic came from all over to partake.
The painting is also unique in that it was probably made while he was in high school or, perhaps, a little after. We know the White Sulphur Springs Hotel burned down in the early 1930s and from the appearance of the well waterspout’s height, it can be deduced the scene was probably painted in the early 1920s. The Artesian Well was a hopping place in the late 1880s (the White Sulphur Springs Hotel was built in 1892) and was in full swing when Freund was a boy. It is unique among his works.Shortly after he would have gone to Columbia to study art, then to Paris to complete his studies.
There is a lot to say about H. Louis Freund, but in the meantime – many of his works are free to view in the lobby of the Henry County Museum. They sure are worth a look.
